Daniel Wiffen created a historic moment on the concluding day of swimming events at the Olympics, earning a bronze in the men’s 1500 metres final. This proud achievement followed his earlier gold medal in the 800m race, making him the first Irishman to secure multiple medals in a single Olympics. The last such honour was bagged by Michelle Smith, 28 years before. Despite feeling ecstatic with his performance, Wiffen revealed a hint of disappointment due to the contrast of the bronze with the previous gold. However, he took joy in noting that no other Irish male had won a medal at the Olympics before, and he has successfully secured two.
In the men’s single golf tournament, Rory McIlroy’s aspirations for a medal spot were hampered by a unfortunate double-bogey on the 15th hole at Le Golf National. Despite an impressive final round 66, he concluded the game 15-under-par, falling four shots behind the new Olympic champion, Scottie Scheffler, from the United States.
Liam Jegou was the first to represent Ireland in the slalom races in canoeing. Despite a tactful performance, he just missed moving onto the quarter-finals, finishing outside the top two. Noel Hendrick was the next competitor, battling against participants from Germany, China, and Australia. A swift start placed him in second position initially, but slower water knocked him back to the fourth position, and while he finished in third, it was inadequate to secure a top two position. Madison Corcoran, making her Olympic debut, ended in fourth position in her heat, thereby concluding her stint in the Games.
In sailing, the competition continued.
In Marseilles, proceedings were delayed due to gentle breezes. Once the races began, Finn Lynch achieved a 13th place finish in the seventh race and an improved 11th place finish in the eighth race helping the Carlow man climb to 10th place overall. This also increased his chances of making it to the medal race on Monday. Eve McMahon, in her best performance so far, came in sixth in the seventh race while her fourteenth-place finish in the eighth race helped the youngest Olympic newcomer to climb to the fifteenth spot overall.
Athletic news
On the ninth day of the Olympic Games in Paris, Nicola Tuthill gave a commendable performance in the Women’s Hammer Throw. However, she didn’t make it to the final round. The 20-year-old Cork-native, student at UCD and representative of the same institution, matched her career’s second best by throwing 69.90m in the last round of her qualification group. Unfortunately, it was not sufficient to progress to the final round.